The Voice That Shatters Idols Text: Psalm 29:3-9
Introduction: A Weather Report for the Pagans
We live in a soft age, an age that has done its level best to soundproof the universe. We have insulated ourselves from the raw, untamed voice of God that echoes through His creation. When a storm rolls in, our first instinct is to check an app on our phones, to reduce the majesty of God to a colored radar blob. We see it as a meteorological event, a low-pressure system, a set of predictable natural phenomena. But the psalmist David, and indeed all of Scripture, would have us see something else entirely. They would have us hear a voice.
Psalm 29 is a direct assault on the idolatries of its day, and by extension, on the idolatries of ours. The Canaanites who surrounded Israel had a whole pantheon of gods, but one of the chief deities was Baal, the god of the storm, the god who supposedly controlled the thunder and the rain. The pagans believed that the violent thunderstorms were the sounds of Baal doing battle with his enemies. This psalm is David's inspired declaration of war against that entire worldview. He looks at the storm, he hears the thunder, he sees the lightning, and he says, in effect, "That is not Baal. That is the voice of Yahweh, my God, the one true and living God."
This is not poetic license. This is theology. This is a polemic. David is taking the very thing the pagans worship and identifying it as nothing more than the whisper of the God they ignore. He is teaching us to interpret the world rightly. Our modern idolatry is not Baal, but a sterile, impersonal "Nature" or "Science." We have traded a personal idol for an impersonal one, but it is idolatry all the same. We attribute the power of the storm to blind, material forces, which is just as foolish as attributing it to a petty, tempestuous sky-god. This psalm calls us to repent of our naturalistic deafness and to hear what the world is shouting at us: the voice of Yahweh is powerful, the voice of Yahweh is majestic.
The Text
The voice of Yahweh is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, Yahweh is over many waters.
The voice of Yahweh is powerful, The voice of Yahweh is full of splendor.
The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars; Indeed, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of Yahweh hews out flames of fire.
The voice of Yahweh causes the wilderness to tremble; Yahweh causes the wilderness of Kadesh to tremble.
The voice of Yahweh makes the deer to calve And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”
(Psalm 29:3-9 LSB)
The Voice Over the Waters (v. 3-4)
The psalm describes the storm as it moves from the Mediterranean Sea inland, and it begins with the very source of chaos in the ancient mind: the sea.
"The voice of Yahweh is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, Yahweh is over many waters. The voice of Yahweh is powerful, The voice of Yahweh is full of splendor." (Psalm 29:3-4)
Notice the repetition. Seven times in this psalm we hear about "the voice of Yahweh." This is a number of perfection and completeness. This is not just any voice; it is the voice that spoke creation into existence. In Genesis, God said, "Let there be light." Here, that same voice thunders. The thunder is not an impersonal atmospheric discharge; it is articulate. It is the voice of the God of glory. When you hear the thunder, you are hearing a direct quote from the Almighty.
The pagans saw the sea as a primordial, chaotic force, a monster to be tamed. The Bible sees it as God's footstool. "Yahweh is over many waters." He is not fighting the waters; He is sovereignly ruling over them. His voice is not a cry of struggle but a declaration of absolute power and splendor. Splendor here means majesty, weight, glory. This is not raw, brute force. It is beautiful. It is the terrible beauty of God's unassailable authority. The world is not a cosmic battleground between equal and opposite forces. The world is a monarchy, and Yahweh is the King. His voice is the law of the land, and the law of the sea.
The Voice Over the Land (v. 5-6)
As the storm makes landfall, its power is directed against the proudest and strongest things the world can offer.
"The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars; Indeed, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox." (Psalm 29:5-6 LSB)
The cedars of Lebanon were legendary in the ancient world. They were symbols of strength, permanence, and royalty. Solomon used them to build the Temple. Pagan kings used them to build their palaces and warships. They were the epitome of created strength. And the voice of Yahweh shatters them. He does not just bend them; He breaks them into splinters.
This is another direct shot at Baal and other regional idols. The high places of pagan worship were often in groves of great trees on mountains. God is saying that the very things you associate with your false gods, the strongest things in their supposed territory, are matchsticks to Him. His voice is so powerful that it makes the mountains themselves, Lebanon and Sirion (another name for Mount Hermon), jump and skip like young animals. The most stable, immovable objects on earth are made to dance at the sound of His voice. This is what the fear of the Lord is. It is the recognition that everything we think is strong and permanent is utterly fragile and contingent before the God who spoke it into being.
The Voice in the Sky and the Wilderness (v. 7-8)
The description of the storm continues, revealing more facets of God's power in His voice.
"The voice of Yahweh hews out flames of fire. The voice of Yahweh causes the wilderness to tremble; Yahweh causes the wilderness of Kadesh to tremble." (Psalm 29:7-8 LSB)
The "flames of fire" is a clear reference to lightning. But notice the language. God "hews" them out. This is the language of a craftsman, a sculptor. He is not losing control; He is carving the sky. The lightning is not a random event; it is a deliberate, directed, and designed display of His power. Each bolt is a divine chisel stroke.
The storm then moves south, over the wilderness of Kadesh. This was a place of great significance for Israel. It was in the wilderness that they wandered. It was there that they saw God's power and provision, and it was there that they rebelled. The voice of God that shook Mount Sinai now shakes the whole wilderness. The earth itself trembles in the presence of its Maker. This is not just a physical description; it is a reminder of God's covenant presence and His holy law. The same voice that makes the wilderness tremble is the voice that gave the Ten Commandments. It is a voice that demands a response.
The Result: Birth, Stripping, and Glory (v. 9)
The psalm concludes the description of the storm's effects with a striking contrast, and then points to the only appropriate response.
"The voice of Yahweh makes the deer to calve And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, 'Glory!'" (Psalm 29:9 LSB)
This is a remarkable verse. The same terrifying voice that shatters cedars and shakes the earth also has a role in bringing forth new life. The thunder is so powerful it can induce labor in the deer. This is not a contradiction. It shows that God's power is not simply destructive; it is procreative. It is the power of life and death. He is sovereign over the womb and the tomb. At the same time, this voice "strips the forests bare." It tears the leaves from the trees, revealing the essential structure underneath. It removes all the finery and gets down to the bare truth.
And what is the conclusion of the matter? What is the right response to this display of raw, untamable, life-giving, death-dealing, mountain-skipping power? "And in His temple everything says, 'Glory!'" In the face of this reality, there is only one sane word to say, and that word is "Glory!" This is the end for which the storm was sent. This is the end for which the world was made. The thunder, the lightning, the splintered cedars, the trembling wilderness, all of it is a sermon, and the text of the sermon is the glory of God.
The Voice of the Gospel
We must not leave this psalm in the Old Testament. The voice of Yahweh that thunders over creation is the same voice that speaks in the gospel. The author of Hebrews tells us that God, who spoke in various ways in the past, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus Christ is the final and ultimate Word, the very voice of God made flesh.
When Jesus was on the Sea of Galilee with His disciples, a great storm arose, and the disciples, like good modern men, were terrified. They thought they were going to die. But Jesus stood up and spoke to the wind and the waves. He said, "Peace! Be still!" And the storm obeyed. The voice of Yahweh was in the boat. The same voice that thunders over the waters in Psalm 29 spoke with quiet authority in that fishing boat, and the result was the same: absolute obedience.
The voice of God in the gospel does what the voice of God in the storm does. It breaks the proud cedars of our self-righteousness. It makes the unshakable mountains of our sin and rebellion skip like calves. It strips our lives bare of all pretense, showing us our need for a savior. And it makes the spiritually barren to give birth. It speaks life into dead hearts.
The cross of Christ was the ultimate thunderstorm. There, the God of glory thundered against sin. The sky grew dark, the earth trembled, and the wrath of God was poured out. But it was poured out on His Son, so that for us who believe, the storm has passed. Because He faced the thunder of God's justice, we are now blessed with the peace of God's grace. And so, in the temple of His church, we look at the storm of the cross, we hear the voice of our God in the gospel, and we join with all creation in saying one thing: "Glory!"